Cambrian

Rethinking the Cambrian Explosion: Before Shells and Limbs, There Was the Brain

Cambrian evolution

A new hypothesis proposes that the Cambrian Explosion -- the sudden burst of animal diversity 500 million years ago -- was not driven by shells or limbs, but by the early evolution of complex nervous systems. The post Rethinking the Cambrian Explosion: Before Shells and Limbs, There Was the Brain appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

06/05/2026 sci-news

This tiny claw in a 500-million-year-old fossil just rewrote the origin of spiders

claw Cambrian fossil specimen

What started as routine fossil cleaning turned into a major scientific surprise when researchers uncovered a tiny claw in a 500-million-year-old specimen where no claw should exist. That detail revealed Megachelicerax cousteaui, the oldest known relative of spiders, pushing the origins of this group back by 20 million years. The fossil shows that key features of modern spiders and horseshoe crabs were already emerging during the Cambrian Explosion.

03/04/2026 sciencedaily

Scientists finally explain Earth’s strangest fossils

Cambrian discovery

The Ediacara Biota are some of the strangest fossils ever found—soft-bodied organisms preserved in remarkable detail where preservation shouldn’t be possible. Scientists now think their survival in sandstone came from unusual ancient seawater chemistry that created clay “cements” around their bodies after burial. This process captured delicate shapes that would normally vanish. The finding helps clarify how complex life emerged before the Cambrian Explosion.

27/01/2026 sciencedaily